Lighter.



WM 14mm W. U. BLASKA.

LIGHTER.

nmwmron FILED JAN.28, 1911.

993,950. Pat nted May 30, 1911.

@lwueutom WILLIAM C. BLASKA, OE BARABOO, WISCONSIN;

LIGHTER.

Specification lit Letters Patent. Patented May 30, 1911.

Application filed January 28, 1911. Serial No. 605,248.

To all whom'it may come? n:

Be it known that I, lVILLLiit C. BLASKA, a citizen of the, United States of America, re-

siding at Baraboo, in the county of Sank and- State of \Visconsin, have invented new and useful'lmprm'ements in Lighters, of which the following is a specification.

. This invention relates to lighters and particularly to onedesigned for the lighting of gas lamps, burners or the like where natural or artificial gaseous fluid may be discharged, the object of the invention being to provide a novel form of handle member for supporting a friction surface and a friction element of spark-producing quality to be moved across the friction surface toform a spark to ignite the gas.

In the drawing, forming a portion of this specification and in which like numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the sevcral views :Figure 1 is a detail perspective view of my improved lighter. Fig. 2 is a front view thereof. Fig. 3 is a detail section through a portion of the handle showing the friction element thereon.

My improved lighter consists preferably of a handle member which is formed from a single length of wire or other suitable well known springy material. The member is constructed to provide a support 1 and a movable actuating member 2, the said members l and 2 being connected with each other by an intermediate coiled portion 3 which presents to the handle. member such springiness as will permit the support 1 and the member 2 to move relatively. The support 1 is provided at its forward end with a downwardly extending portion t which is offset, as shown at 5, to extend through the longitudinal passage, 6 in the friction clcment 7 The friction element is preferably of rectangular form in cross section so as to present a plurality of working surfaces 8, each surface being serrated or roughened in any well known suitable manner for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

The friction element 7 is Formed at its ends to provide recesses 9 in which the depending portion 4 and the upstanding portion 10 of the support 1 are interchangeably engaged so that when one of the surfaces of the friction element has been used to an extent that the ignition qualitiesof' the device are decreased 3. new surface may be produced. The actuating'member 2 isformed at its extremity to provide 8. depending threaded shank 11 which fits the correspondingly formed passage 12 in the spark-producing element 13. The spark-producing element 13 is composed of a. composition of iron, brass and sulfur, orflint or such elements may be constructed of other metal of any well known character which may be found mostsuitable for the purpose in.- tended. The element 13 has its lower surface 14 contacting with the exposed friction surface of the element -7 and its movement in one diretion across the surface is limited by the stop-forming portion 10 of'thesupport- 1. The actuating element 2 is provided with an upstanding coiled'portion 15 intermediate of its length which maybe grasped by the hand or pressed by the thumb when it is desired to move the element 13 across the friction surface of the element 7.

The device described and shown herein will be found most ellicient for the purpose intended and it may be manufactured at a relativelylow cost, obviating the use of matches or the like for the ignition of gaseous bodies or fluids. In lighting, the device is placed so that the elements 7 and 13 are arranged in close proximity to the lamp and on moving the support 1 and the actuating member 2 relatively a spark or sparks will be produced between the surfaces ,of the spark-producing elements. By constructing the actuating member 2 to provide the depending threaded shank 11 it will be seen that means are employed for the detachable engagement therewith of the friction element 13 so that on wear of such friction element it may be removed and a new one re= placed at a minimum cost.

I claim A lighter comprising a support, an element rotatably mounted on the support and. movable acrbss one of the friction surfaces provided with a plurality of friction surfaces, the said element having recesses therein, means on the support for inter- 5 changeable engagement in. the recesses to hold the element against movement, amovable actuating member, and a friction element carried by the aetnating member and of the rotatable element.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM G. BLASKA. Witnesses:

WILLIAM E. MILIiARD, CARL M. DU BOIS. 

